Pablo Picasso’s Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) (1937) will be the star of Sotheby’s evening sale tomorrow. It is one of Picasso’s last paintings of his muse Marie-Thérèse Walter, whom he represented countless times in the 1930s. Several paintings of Marie-Thérèse will feature in the exhibition Picasso 1932: Love, Fame, Tragedy, opening on 8 March 2018 at Tate Modern, London. While works in the exhibition chronicle the romantic highpoint of their relationship, the painting auctioned by Sotheby’s marks its end. Indeed, the dark shadow surrounding Marie-Thérèse’s face may evoke Picasso’s growing passion for Dora Maar, his lover between 1935 and 1943.

According to The Art Newspaper, El Greco’s Saint Francis and Leo (around 1600) is one of the highlights of the upcoming London sales. With an estimated sale price of £5m-£7m, the work is one of 51 from the collection of the late Stanford Rothschild consigned for sale to Christie’s. The sale will take place on 7 December. Click here for more information about this painting.